For 15 minutes Samantha Murray had a TV audience of millions, not to mention a capacity Court 1 crowd of 11,390, daring to dream.

The 26-year old from Altrincham had started her first round Wimbledon singles clash against Maria Sharapova full of confidence, holding serve and taking the reigning French Open champion to deuce on both her opening service games.

Then in the fourth game reality bit.

At 40-30 and with an open court to aim at, Murray netted a simple volley which would have squared the first set at 2-2.

From that moment on Sharapova grew in stature as her inexperienced opponent wilted mentally and physically, Murray’s recent five month lay-off with a wrist injury hardly helping matters.

She failed to win another game, losing 6-1 6-0 in just 58 minutes.

As Sharapova tactfully put it afterwards, “She made a few more unforced errors than she would have liked, definitely.”

And so Murray returns to the humdrum life of playing tournaments in front of crowds numbering the digits on both hands.

But did the experience of yesterday help or hinder her long term cause?

“It’s got to help me,” she told MEN Sport.

“It’s really great to see what that level is. She (Sharapova) is fifth seed and with her record is as good a player as you’re ever going to play against.

“I know the score was 6-1 6-0 but it really didn’t feel that way which is encouraging. I played some good points and knew I could bother her with my hitting.

“If I can play more points like that back to back then I can build on this.

“I trained hard for thisall week and felt good going into the match, so it wasn’t for lack of preparation. It’s just experience.

“But just being here and playing on Court 1 has been really encouraging. Yes, losing hurts, but if this place doesn’t inspire you to want to do better then nothing will.”

Will the memory of that missed volley haunt her for weeks to come?

Murray insists not. “It was a basic error which I can’t do at this level but it happens to everybody,” she says.

“You just have to try and let it go.”

There is the small consolation of a first round loser’s cheque for £27,000 which will help with the hefty training, travel and accommodation costs that come with professional tennis, although Murray insists cash is far from her chief driving force.

“It’s not really about the money,” added Murray.

“It’s about the experience and opportunity to show yourself on a big stage and measure yourself against them and learn to improve.”

Meanwhile, number one seed Serena Williams thundered down a barrage of aces to serve notice of her determination to reclaim the Wimbledon title.

The American top seed, took just a minute over an hour to see off Anna Tatishvili on Centre Court, winning 6-1 6-2.